The First Lesson (Wei Wu Wei)

[spada]

Spada punched in a code on the wall of the Academy with his 3 large fingers and the door shot up. He stepped in, removing his hood and revealing his strange, Kel-Dor head. He removed his cloak, folded it, and placed it on the ground next to him. He was dressed in a Jedi Padawan tunic, although he was not formally assigned a Master yet, and his belt was empty, save for a dimly glowing green lightsaber crystal. After weeks of searching, he finally had found one.

He walked across the glossy floor and over to a small table with some tools. He placed the crystal and a small paper with the design of his lightsaber on it onto the table. He then set to work creating his lightaber. After many hours, he had created his saber. The unusually long hilt with part of the crystal sticking out of the end was a unique design, and as he pushed the button, the stream of green flowed from stub of the hilt and its glow reflected off the walls and danced on the work table.

He held the saber in both hands and began to swing it in the air. His swings were fairly slow, but the power behind them was difficult to match. He practiced his stances and swings, and after an hour he stopped and held the saber at his side. He then turned off the saber and sat to meditate, his new saber hanging from his belt.

[spada]

Spada woke from his meditation and pulled out his comlink.

"Can I have 2 practice droids in the Training Room please? And If you get in touch with my teacher could you tell him to meet me here? Thank you."

he put away the comlink and began to pace the floor, waiting for his teacher and the droids.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei was walking down the halls of the Academy with training gear under his arms and a gym bag over his shoulder. In his hand he managed to keep a datapad where he could see it, despite the load he carried under his arms.

"Too much to do," he said, reviewing his lesson plans. "What was I thinking taking on 4 Padawans at once?" he asked no one in particular.

Then something caught his eye: a Jedi Padawan practicing with a couple of droids.

"Hey, what's going on?" Wei asked. Wei never passed up a chance to ask a Padawan if he needed help.

[spada]

Spada reflected one blast from the droid, but Wei's voice caused him to turn and take his eye of the droid. The shot grazed his shoulder and he made a strange growling sound under his mask. He was about to retaliate and hit the droid back when he controlled himself and turned it off. Turning his attention, he answered,

"Waiting for my teacher to show me a lesson. The problem is the number of recruits are overwhelming the masters and knights, as you probably know. I haven't even been able to get one lesson in."

Spada looked at Wei's gear and asked,

"Where are you heading?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei looked at all the stuff he had. "Oh this? Taking these to my room. It's been a busy day, let me tell you."

Wei set his things down by the door and stepped inside the room.

"Lightsaber training, huh?"

Wei took one of his own sabers from his belt and turned it on to its practice setting. "I don't do lightsaber training much myself, but I'm pretty handy when I need to be."

Wei's practice saber emitted a forcefield that looked very much like a real lightsaber blade. In fact, many couldn't tell the difference. Wei wasn't sure that there was much difference other than the fact that a real lightsaber blade cut and his practice blade didn't. Wei's saber had an actual combat setting too, but he didn't use it often.

"Well, I see you've been trying to deflect laser bolts. That's a bit advanced, really. You see..." Wei said, pressing a few buttons on the little machine, "it involves more than reflexes and lightsabers. It also takes..." Wei turned the droid on.

Immediately the droid floated in the air and shot off a volley of five laser bolts, one at Wei's head, arms, and legs. "It also takes," Wei said, knocking back the head shot and one of the arm shots, "a good bit of..." Wei reached in his sleeve and got his war fan, flicking it open wide and smoothly moving it in a circle to deflect the second arm bolt and both leg bolts simultaneously, "foresight."

Wei shut the droid off. "By extending your consciousness with the Force you can begin to see where the laser bolts are coming from before they're fired. But for now, let's keep focused on actually fighting in a lightsaber duel."

Wei shut off his lightsaber fan and returned it to its place in his sleeve. "Take up your generic stance, one foot forward and one back, weight spread about 50/50. Then just raise your lightsaber in front of you. A good way to position your lightsaber is to hold it somewhat vertically in front of you and lining up the tip of the blade with the opponent's nose. That way you start out with an even chance of blocking any strike the opponent might make against you."

[spada]

Despite his stature, Spada immediately fit into a good stance. He then clicked a knob on his newly made saber changing it to training. He allowed his saber to point out and asked,

"Now what?"

Spada was glad that Wei had found him, and he was already learning a great deal from the experienced Jedi. He only hoped that his master would be as good a teacher as Wei.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei smiled and shrugged. "What do you think? We do a couple of strikes. Follow me."

Wei swung straight down first, then lowered his hip a little and scopped upwards with his blade. Lastly Wei cut left, and then right.

"When you cut horizontally, it is good to try to do that with only one hand so you can reach out wider than by using just both hands. So when you're cutting left, use your left hand. And when you cut right, use your right hand."

[spada]

Spada intently listened to his first lesson and when he was done, he rose his saber.

Bringing it down slowly, he mimicked Wei's steps slowly to get the hang of it. After doing it 3 times and speeding it up after the one before, he was eventually doing the quick, powerful strokes that Wei had showed him.

"Wow, im learning pretty fast. This is nothing like using a vibroblade though. The weight is very differently distributed."

He held the saber at his side and slowly spun it as he awaited Wei's next lesson.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "The blade has not actual mass. At least, I think that's what my master told me. At any rate, it is very much like swinging around air. Air that can kill you."

Wei stepped closer to Spada. "Ok, we're going to do some defensive things now. First, I'm going to perform the same strikes I did before in the same order, and you have to stop them."

Wei returned to the basic stance. "When you block these, let the sabers connect, and let my blade kind of slide off of yours, like water slides off of an inclined surface."

"The downward swing will be harder to block because I'm going down and coming up. Catch my blade on yours as I move upwards then simply push it to the outside."

Wei started with a slow downward swing, then upwards, then to the left, and finally to the right. The Jedi Knight made sure to give Spada plenty of time to react and get a handle on the blocking technique.

[spada]

Spada connected his saber to Wei's on the first swing and pushed it away. Wei then swung to the left, which Spada blocked due to the slowness Wei was moving at, but as he crossed his saber over to stop from the right, he ended up nicking his own hip slightly. He made a wincing sound and said,

"Guess I need some practice still."


he and Wei went over the blocking of different attacks several times until Spada asked,

"what if they come in and jab straight at you? I know when I used to use a vibroblade I would slash upwardsto knock their sword out of their hands."

He then realised he had never said why he knew about a Vibroblade.

"Back at home me and my friend used to practice with vibroblades, mainly for defense porpouses in our neighborhood.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "Well, it all depends, really. If the stab at your face you can simply dodge out of the way by side-stepping. Same with a stab at your middle."

Wei gave a small devilish chuckle. "Or I like to step outside the thrust, parry, ride their blade down to the hilt and strike them back."

Wei shrugged. "But I personally prefer dodging. Takes less effort for me."

[spada]

Spada chuckled and replied,

"I see. Maybe... we could do a little duel - at slow speed of course. I could use the practice."

He wanted to get into a fun duel, even if it was with someone he knew was much better than him. He wanted a great deal to begin dueling with people to practice.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Not yet. No freestyle yet. I want us to do one more thing."

Wei stepped in and placed his blade on Spada's. "This drill is called 'Sticky Hands.' In this drill we keep our blades touching and try to maneuver each other so as to keep ourselves closed, and create an opening in the opponent for a strike. This is also a bare handed drill, so it works well whenever. The key to his is to move in circles. Not just footwork, but your blade must also make arcs and circles."

[spada]

"so you mean we have to try and throw the other person off balance while our sabers are still touching? I think I know what you mean."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"You can try to knock me over, or actually strike at my body."

Wei started with his saber on the inside and moved it in an ouward arc to the lower outside, then allowed his blade to ride Spada' to the hilt and flicking his wrist to strike at Spada's ribcage.

[spada]

Spada got lucky. Flicking his wrists, he turned Wei's saber away, but as a result he clipped his wrist with Wei's saber. Spada turned his wrist down, attempting to do the same move Wei had tried on him.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei fielded the attack by rolling his saber to the inside and pushing outward. Once Wei was sure he was in control again, he placed his saber on the outside of Spada's blade and pushed upwards this time, but aiming once again at the Padawan's ribcage.

[spada]

Spada was not as lucky this time. The saber banged into his rib cage, knicking the wind out of him. He was stunned for a second, but he recovered quickly. He made a slight grunt and keeping the saber on the outside of Wei's, he pushed to the inside causing Wei to cross his saber to his other side. Spada then made a jab at Wei's stomache.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei twisted to the side at his waist and leaned over, barely avoiding what would have been a terrible stab wound. Wei gently lifted Spada's saber with his and moved it so that he could stand up straight again.

"That thing's real, right?"

[spada]

Spada nodded,

"Oh its real. I just set the power down like so-"

His saber was created so instead of flipping a switch to turn it on, it had a knob which increased and decreased the power.

"I did it so I wouldnt need a practice saber. Is that allowed?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shrugged. "Fine with me. My saber has two settings, itself."

"When doing this drill you must stay relaxed at all times. If you get tense you'll mess up. I find it a good drill for Jedi to practice."

Wei stepped back and lowered his saber. "Good job. We can come back to this drill later if you need to. But let's do something else. You were practicing deflecting laser bolts before. Let's go over how that works and you can practice that for a bit. Then we'll end with a short spar."

[spada]

Spada nodded and followed Wei, turning his saber off on the way. He had a feeling coming from Wei's mind that he would need to learn something else before he could deflect blaster shots.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shut the door of the room and turned out the lights, so it was entirely dark. "Pretty hard to see, don't you think? I can't see my hand in front of my face."

Wei walked confidently around the room, using the Force to guide him to his stuff. "Let's see here..."

Wei grabbed one of the tennis balls and tossed it nonchalantly over his shoulder. Then he pitched another. And another. And another, leaving four tennis balls scattered about the room.

"Spada, in order to find these balls, you're going to have to use the Force. First you must attune yourself with the Force. Settle your mind. Some find it helpful to have a special warm memory to focus on to help them become attuned."

"Once you feel the Force, simply stretch out your awareness through the Force and feel around for the tennis balls. When you find them, bring them to me."

One ball had landed in the far right corner, one in the center of the room, a third one next to the wall left of the door, and the last one rested just a short distance from Spada's feet.

"Find the tennis balls, then find me."

[spada]

Spada nodded and realised that Wei could not see his reply. He decided to empty his mind of nothing but the force. He became overwhelmed by it and felt as if he could see better somehow.

He could see the one next to him and he picked it up, putting it into his cloak pocket. After walking around, he finally found another by the corner of the room. He wandered around more and found another, which by where he thought was the middle of the room. He walked around, only able to see a little in front of him thanks to the force, and he mistakenly walked into Wei.

"Sorry. One more to get."

Said Spada, not wanting Wei to think he was done. He wandered around and saw the door. Looking to the left, he had a strange feeling that the ball was there. The area in front of him became more clear and a tennis ball stood out on the ground. He picked it up and glanced near the middle of the room, concentrating like he did on the last ball. He could faintly see the outline of Wei and quickly walked back to him, placing the tennis bals in Wei's hands.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei felt a small impact. "Keep at it. You'll get it."

A few moments later, Wei's hands were full. "And get it you did. Good job."

Wei put the balls back in their bag and turned the lights on slowly, to allow his and Spada's eyes to adjust.

"Now, we do the same thing we did with the tennis balls, but with laser bolts."

Wei found a small practice droid and turned it on. "You can watch it all you want, but if you don't use the Force you'll never stop a single shot. Blaster bolts move much faster than you. Sense the tingle in the air and bring your saber to a point where you can stop it. Don't worry about deflecting the blast directly back, just hit it away for right now."

[spada]

Spada nodded, pointed his saber away, and ignited it. concentrating on the droid, the first 3 shots hit him squarely in the chest. He shook them off and focused the force in the droid. Something told him to block high and then to the left. He did it and sure enough the bolts touched his saber after he thought of it. He was beggining to understand the limitlessness of the force.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "Good job, Spada. Now, let's try something a bit more difficult."

Wei had with him three human shaped targets, which he set behind and to the sides of Spada. One at his right, one close left, and the other farther left.

"When I tell it to, the droid will shoot at those targets," Wei said, fiddling with the little robot. "You must deflect the shots away from them."

Wei finished tinkering and set the droid back up. "Ready? Go!"

Three red beams of light lanced towards the targets Wei had set up.

[spada]

Spada's force instincts told him where the first two would go, but the 3rd shot tore clean through one of the dummies.

"Thats impossible. I cant block all three."

He did not think he could stop 3 shots going to different targets at around the same time.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. We'll come back to this later on in your career, when you have learned more and grown more in the Force."

Wei shut down the droid and collected his targets. "Now, there is one serious topic concerning lightsabers that I want to discuss with you before we go, Spada."

[spada]

Spada nodded to Wei. Wei seemed like this was an important lesson and he did not want to miss any of it. He turned off his saber, sat down in front of him and listened intently, feeling his lightsaber hilt in his hand.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei set his things down and then activated his saber. It hummed as he whirled it around.

"Spada, the lightsaber is a very powerful weapon. Most people think of it whenever they think of Force users. Especially Jedi. However, there is more to a Jedi than his lightsaber. Jedi are keepers of the peace, not soldiers."

Wei shut off his saber before continuing. "There are going to be times in which brute strength and a lightsaber will not help to keep the peace. Some will view the drawing of a lightsaber as a challenge against them. Still others will see it as an act of hatred towards them because you have not tried to understand them."

"Hurting people hurt people. Only until you are able to find out what hurts people, can you stop them from hurting others and finally achieve peace."

[spada]

Spada nodded as he let the lesson sink in. He finally replied,

"I understand. I vow to only use my lightsaber to keep the peace and only when it is in an extreme situation. I will not start a fight using my rank as an advantage. I will only work to stop a fight with the least possible bloodshed."

he then put his saber on his belt and awaited Wei's reply.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I'll hold you to that vow. Now, are there any questions you have for me?"

[spada]

Spada thought a while, holding his hands behind his back when he asked,

"Yes, two. Are the different attacks of a saber similar to the attacks of a vibroblade? Because I have been trained in the use of one and wondered if using a lightsaber would be any different."

he waited a moment and asked,

"My other question is; where is the force? Is it in the air or is it in the object itself?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei considered Spada's questions, and decided to answer them in the order he had asked them.

"Well, there are the usual horizontal and vertical cuts. Some people have been known to hold their lightsaber with the blade facing down, instead of up, like this."

Wei held his hand out, gripping his lightsaber and turning it on so the blade pointed at the ground instead of the cieling. Then he shut it off again.

"I suppose that would make for different attacks. But I hear only the fastest Jedi hold their saber that way. But on the other hand, if you mean 'special techniques,' or 'unique attacks' then I'm afraid I don't know any. Perhaps you could do some research, or find a Jedi that specializes in lightsaber combat."

Now that Wei thought about it, he might have to take his own advice. Never hurt to brush up on an old subject, and learn something new while he was at it.

"As for the Force...A great Jedi Master once said, 'the Force is in everything.' So the answer to your question is yes."

[spada]

Spada understood that the force was everywhere now and realised why he could not move things with the force since he was not concentrating on the right places.

"Those are my only questions. What is the next lesson?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Whatever the next Knight or Master decides to teach you," Wei replied. "I think you know enough to hold your own against most other Padawans. You just keep practicing what I've shown you here, and other teachers will come a long to teach you in time."

Wei went to the door and picked up all his gear. "Be seeing you, Spada."

[spada]

Spada bowed lowly and said to him before he left the room,

"I am very grateful. Hopefully I will see you again."

Spada then turned away and ignited his saber, practicing everything Wei taught him many times over. After a few hours, he turned off his saber, checked the wiring on it, and left the room to rest from his first lesson.